Year 6

Welcome to the Spring term!

We are looking forward to another term of learning. Year six is always such an important year; it is a time of transition where you have the opportunity to reflect on all the amazing memories which you have created during your time at Burghfield St. Mary’s, as well as looking forward to the next phase in your life. It is also a year of opportunities: key roles and responsibilities, outdoor adventurous visits and the school play, where you can give the best of yourselves and become fabulous role models. You are the ‘top of the school’ and others will look up to you to lead the way.No-one underestimates the challenges we will face too. Remember, it is important to communicate with us and say how you feel as we create our new normal in year six. Talk to us, use the post it note system and always share your joys and your worries. We are here for you. Anything that you are unsure about – please ask.

We are always here to listen. Let’s do this – team year six!

Mrs Field and Mrs Parry.

Year 6 Preview Learning: Week commencing 30 January 2023

English

This week in English, we will be beginning a new unit writing a non-chronological report or information fact based around the topic of ‘fears.’ We will brainstorm common fears e.g. spiders, dark, dinosaurs, scary films, heights as well as more unusual fears e.g. mobile phones, broccoli, baked beans, rain, jam etc. We will also discover their technical names, symptoms and possible causes and cures. We will then create a toolkit for an information text and plan our own information text. You could search information at home about your own fears.

Toolkit:

Sub-headings to show subjects / content of the paragraphs,
Expert opinions,
Technical vocabulary to add precision,
Brackets or dashes for extra information,
Use of provisional statements with words and phrases like usually…, seem to be…, tend to…,
Opinions as well as facts e.g. Some people still believe that… It used to be thought that…,
References to sources of evidence to add authority e.g. However, last year, a new variety was discovered…,
Colons to introduce lists.

Spelling

Our year 5 / 6 words to practise this week are: neighbour, nuisance, occupy, occur.

This week we will be looking at further words with silent letters or unstressed vowels. We will discuss strategies for remembering and spelling the unstressed vowels in words with more than one syllable.

Possible strategies for remembering unstressed vowels/consonants :

Write the word out and use a highlighter pen to emphasise the unstressed part.
Look for words within words, e.g. remember the ‘ar’ syllable in separate because there is a ‘rat’ in the middle.
Use spell, speak for some words, to over-articulate the unstressed part, e.g. choc-o-late, fam-i-ly.
Think of the history of words, e.g. holiday comes from holy day, and when the two words are together, the y becomes i.
Think of the word family (e.g. definite, finite, infinity / family, familiar) because sometimes the unstressed vowel is clearer in other words in the family.
Look for prefixes or suffixes and think of the root word (e.g. differ+ence.)

Now is the time to continue to revise all the words from the year 3/4 and the year 5/6 spelling lists. This will really help to give you confidence in the term to come.

The complete list of 3 /4 and 5 / 6 words to learn are on the links below:

SpellingWordList_Y3-4.pdf (oxfordowl.co.uk)

SpellingWordList_Y5-6.pdf (oxfordowl.co.uk)

Grammar

In grammar, we will be consolidating our understanding of parenthesis and commas.

Parenthesis is a word or clause added into a sentence to give extra information. It is particularly useful for adding more information about a setting or character. For example: The old man (who had hair as white as snow) peered curiously through the window. Brackets, dashes or commas are used to enclose the extra information.

Please login to SPAG.com and revise ‘Parenthesis and commas (C).’

You may find it useful to look at the following web page which has more information, examples, activities and videos:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zcnbn9q

Google is also always very useful for grammar definitions and reminders, as is: https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/english/primary-grammar/grammar-year-6-age-10-11/.

Reading and Comprehension

Please ensure you are reading with your parents regularly, with at least three entries with parent signatures in your reading diary. Don’t forget to complete a book review each time you finish your book for a chance to be entered into the prize draw.

The comprehension text for the week will be: ‘An Underground City.’ Please complete the inference questions on pages 18-19 of your comprehension homework book, we will then discuss the possible answers in class next Monday.

Maths

In Maths this week, we will be continuing the topic of algebra. We will be thinking about how to find pairs of numbers that satisfy an equation with two unknowns. For example, if a + b = 6, what possible solutions can we think of? Taking this further, think about the following example: 𝑋 and 𝑌 are whole numbers. • 𝑋 is a one digit odd number. • 𝑌 is a two digit even number. • 𝑋 + 𝑌 = 25. Find all the possible pairs of numbers that satisfy the equation. We will also be solving formula such as: 4x+2=22 or 2n+3=11